In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today..

[CN: Fire; displacement] "The entire population of the Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray was evacuated as firefighters battled an out-of-control wildfire that was likely to worsen Wednesday. There were long lines on highways as 80,000 residents fled the blaze and oil sands work camps were pressed into service as emergency shelters. 'Apocalyptic' and 'harrowing' scenes on social media showed vehicles facing thick smoke and raging roadside flames amid the largest evacuation in the province of Alberta's history. 'The city is under a complete mandatory evacuation order,' Wood Buffalo municipality spokesman Robin Smith told NBC News early Wednesday... In the Beacon Hill neighborhood, 80 percent of homes have been destroyed, he added. Firefighters from across Canada were being mobilized to aid in the fight. ...'The worst of the fire is not over,' warned Bernie Schmitte, wildfire manager at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry." So devastating. If you want to help, and can afford to donate, the Canadian Red Cross has an Alberta Fires Emergency Appeal, donations to which will be earmarked for people affected.

[CN: Racism; misogyny; police brutality] Goddammit: "On March 27 a white male police officer shot and killed a 27-year-old Navajo woman, Loreal Tsingine, in Winslow, Arizona. Over a month later, the community is still demanding an investigation into the killing; they say it is symptomatic of an entrenched pattern of police violence against Native residents in towns that border the 27,000-square mile Navajo Nation, a territory that extends into Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah."

[CN: Racism] "Publicly, John McCain insists Donald Trump will have a negligible effect on his campaign for reelection. But behind closed doors at a fundraiser in Arizona last month, the Republican senator and two-time presidential hopeful offered a far more dire assessment to his supporters. 'If Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona, with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life,' McCain said, according to a recording of the event obtained by POLITICO. 'If you listen or watch Hispanic media in the state and in the country, you will see that it is all anti-Trump. The Hispanic community is roused and angry in a way that I've never seen in 30 years.'" It's pretty cool how, at least from that snippet, McCain doesn't seem as concerned about why Latinx voters are so angry as he does that they might just not vote for him because of it. Cool dude as always.

Meanwhile, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is all in for Trump: "I have committed to supporting the nominee chosen by Republican voters, and Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee is now on the verge of clinching that nomination... Republicans are committed to preventing what would be a third term of Barack Obama and restoring economic and national security after eight years of a Democrat in the White House." At any cost. Clearly.

[CN: White supremacy] And former Republican presidential candidate and current shitlord Pat Buchanan was interviewed by NPR, where he disgorged the usual mountainous heap of white supremacy and "went on to suggest that the Republican party, which voted conclusively for Donald Trump, also believes that, essentially, a whiter America is a better America, and suggested that the general election will be a kind of referendum on the issue of whether America prefers a whiter America to a more diverse one."

[CN: Misogyny] I am already hating how Trump is fixing to make this election an epic battle of the sexes with his gross misogyny, and it's only going to get worse as "Democrats will have female Senate candidates on the ballot in nine states in November, a near-record, and these contenders will likely be sharing the ticket with the first major-party female presidential nominee in history in Hillary Clinton." To be abundantly clear: I am not saying it will get worse because (comparatively) lots of women are running. YAY FOR SO MANY WOMEN RUNNING! I am putting the responsibility for the imminent onslaught of misogyny squarely at the feet of misogynists.

So, here's something definitely unrelated to the previous item: Hillary Clinton's campaign released [CN: video may autoplay] a terrific new advert compiling many of the extreme criticisms other Republicans have made of Trump. And NPR immediately used that to write a story asking how "ugly" the general election will be. Eric Boehlert asks: "How is Hillary making an ad featuring quotes from GOPs talking down Trump 'ugly'?" Good question!

President Obama is naming the nation's first LGBT rights monument! "New York's iconic Stonewall Inn, where the modern gay rights movement took root, will become the first national monument honoring the history of gays and lesbians in the U.S. under a proposal President Barack Obama is preparing to approve." I sure hope that there's mention of the important role trans woman played at Stonewall during the commemoration!

Rolling Stones Tell Donald Trump to Stop Using Their Music. This guy has more money than Midas and he continually steals music.

Neat! "Earthlings are in for a treat Monday as Mercury makes a relatively rare transit of the sun. The solar system's smallest, innermost planet will resemble a black round dot as it passes in front of our big, bright star. The last time Mercury crossed directly between the Earth and sun was in 2006, and it won’t happen again until 2019—and then, until 2032. NASA says the event occurs only about 13 times a century."

And finally! All the blubs forever: "School Yearbook Includes Loyal Service Dog Next to Her Boy." LOVE.